Reece James shows true colours after being dropped by Enzo Maresca for Chelsea final

showed no bitterness towards despite being dropped by the Chelsea boss for the Conference League final. The Blues captain was surprisingly omitted from Maresca's starting 11 , which Chelsea won 4-1.

James admitted that he was 'devastated' to see Malo Gusto picked ahead of him at right-back. But Gusto's poor performance in the first half prompted Maresca to introduce James at half-time. The England star was excellent in the second period, helping the Premier League side come back from 1-0 to win 4-1. James had no ill-feeling towards his manager and the Italian was one of the first people he embraced at full-time.

As Chelsea celebrated in front of their fans, James shoved Maresca towards the Blues fans - urging him to take the acclaim for masterminding the club's Conference League-winning campaign. The Chelsea boss was reluctant to be the centre of attention.

Asked about not starting the game, James told TNT Sports: "Of course it is devastating to know you are not starting in a final. I want to play every game but it was the manager's decision. Once he made the decision, I had to move on and accept it and be ready when I was needed."

Maresca said that he has been forced to protect James due to the 24-year-old's historic fitness issues. He said: "I promise you, I would start always with Reece, but I'm trying to protect him. He played more games this season than the last two or three years. He is happy and he knows that. He's a top player for us, he is like Cole [Palmer].

"The problem is that we need to manage him. Before he came on, he said, 'Don't worry boss, we are going to win the game'."

Chelsea went 1-0 behind after eight minutes and struggled to get a grasp on the game until James' introduction at half-time. Cole Palmer excelled in the second period, producing excellent crosses for Enzo Maresca and Nicolas Jackson to score.

Substitute Jadon Sancho then fired in a third with an excellent finish. Caicedo added gloss to the scoreline with a deflected effort from the edge of the box.

Chelsea are now the first team to complete a haul of all three European club trophies. The Conference League was introduced ahead of the 2021-22 season.